ACS Exec Exits After Projecting $40-Million Revenue Slump

by Eric T. Rosenthal

Last summer the American Cancer Society (ACS) announced that Lin MacMaster had been hired as its first-ever Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer, a senior leadership position that combined the formerly separate functions of fundraising and marketing.

The society stated in a press release at that time that adding MacMaster to the "seminal post" was "... part of a transformative effort designed to save even more lives from cancer."

Less than 18 months later that executive is gone, and the ACS is facing a projected $40-million revenue loss linked to an especially poor showing from its hallmark Relay for Life events.

What a Difference a Year Makes

MacMaster joined ACS as part of an organization-wide streamlining and reorganization, which rolled out over a 3-year period ending in December, 2013. A key feature of that plan was the move to re-establish the ACS as a single corporate entity, which eliminated divisional autonomy and decreased the seats on its board of directors.

Many staff positions were eliminated and those wishing to continue working there had to reapply to newly reconfigured positions, sometimes at a decreased salary.

Then, earlier this month, during the ACS' monthly closed-circuit Internet program, "Society Talk," MacMaster announced that this year Relay for Life was down an estimated 10,000 volunteer leaders and about 290,000 participants.

Sources close to the situation said MacMaster explained that each participant usually raised an average of $158 and that amounted to more than $40,000,000 in projected lost revenue. She also noted that people today wanted a sense of community and Relay had given them that.

For years, revenue raised through Relay constituted a significant part of ACS' fundraising portfolio.

Several days following her disclosure during the closed-circuit briefing, MacMaster abruptly left the cancer organization.

According to some interviewed for this article, the announcement about the revenue shortfall came days before ACS' board of directors meeting, but ACS VP for Media Relations Tara Peters said during a telephone interview with MedPage Today that there was no causal link related to the timing and that MacMaster's revenue revelations had already been known to others. However, according to those I spoke with, the numbers were extremely surprising to many rank-and-file staff across the nation.

Peters added that she could only confirm that MacMaster had departed the organization and that transitional plans are underway.

I learned from a mutual acquaintance that MacMaster would not be able to speak with me for this article because she was "in the process of negotiating her separation from ACS."

In July 2013 MacMaster told me that the society's traditional fundraising efforts had expanded over the years, and it made sense to link raising revenue directly with marketing to change perception and behavior.

Her new position replaced two vice presidents who had left ACS previously as part of the reorganization, as had several other senior-level executives overseeing key society functions including the Relay for Life.

MacMaster had explained then that joining ACS also had personal importance since she had turned to the society years before when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and that professionally it was important to increase revenue while using marketing "to ensure brand relevance to new and existing supporters."

Dream Team?

During a discussion I had last year with ACS President and COO Greg Bontrager, I was told that MacMaster was then one of eight members of ACS' "cancer continuum team," which also included Bontrager, ACS CEO John Seffrin, PhD; Chief Scientific and Medical Officer Otis W. Brawley, MD; Chief Cancer Control Officer Richard Wender, MD; ACS CAN President Chris Hansen; Senior VP for Field Operations Joe Cahoon, and National Corporate VP for Corporate Communications Greg Donaldson, who also left the organization suddenly last November.

After 22 years as CEO, Seffrin announced his retirement this January, and a national search is currently being conducted for his successor.

In 2007, ACS reported its highest-ever fiscal year with total revenue of $1,171,920,000, most of it coming from public support. In 2008, revenue remained above the billion-dollar mark but declined to $1,078,172,000. In 2009 revenue dropped to $897,051,000; then rose to $956,159,000 in 2010, before falling to $953,576,000 in 2011, and $925,390,000 in 2012, the last year of available tax documents.

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